The aquatic neutral village remained enveloped in grief. Candles floated in the sea around their temple, flickering as the wind whispered their mourning.
Among them, hushed voices rose as they gazed upon the ice spear-now removed from Peggy's body and preserved beside her.
One of the elders clenched their fist. "That ice... that design... it's his. Glacius. Only he makes spears like this."
"No... it can't be," a younger neutral cried. "He was working with her!"
"He used her," another growled. "He was always cold-hearted. Just waiting for the right time."
A harsh silence followed.
Until a clear, commanding voice broke through:
"Move."
The crowd parted to reveal the village's best aquatic doctor, an elderly man with silver fins and a shimmering, calm aura. He examined Peggy's broken body, his fingers glowing with bioluminescent waves of healing energy.
After long minutes, he finally turned to them.
"She's not lost yet."
Gasps echoed.
"There is still a spark within her... faint, but present. Hope remains."
Cheers mixed with sobs, hope flooding the village like sunlight after a storm.
They hurried to transfer Peggy to their healing island, a secluded neutral hospital built deep within coral caves. Everyone joined in-carrying supplies, powering healing flows, and setting protective spells.
Inside the coral-lit chambers, the doctor and his aides began the aquatic healing process: restoring blood flow using pressure-tide balancing, mending internal damage with bio-electric threads, and surrounding her in a cocoon of healing currents.
A Day passed.
Her wounds began to close.
One healer, curious, asked the doctor, "Isn't it said... that those impaled by Glacius's spear never survive? That he always targets a fatal point?"
The doctor nodded solemnly. "Yes. That's what all records show. He's precise. Ruthless. He leaves no margin for survival."
"Then how...?"
"I don't know," the doctor admitted. "Perhaps he miscalculated."
"Glacius? Miscalculate?"
He looked back at Peggy, her body slowly pulsing with a faint light under the healing field.
"...Or perhaps, somewhere inside that frozen shell... a part of him didn't want her to die."
Everyone fell silent.
The tides of doubt had begun to swirl.
And somewhere deep in her chest, a gentle, stubborn spark of light still refused to go out.
The coral-reef sky was still dim, morning barely cracking over the horizon, when Peggy's eyes slowly opened, silver lashes fluttering against bruised skin.
"...Where..." she mumbled, feeling the cold dampness of bandages and seawater treatment around her.
Her body ached-writhing with pain-but her spirit, unshaken.
She sat up, trembling. Tried to stand. Collapsed. Tried again. Her knees buckled-but her hands slammed the ground.
"I need to get up..." she gasped. "Glacius... he's going to start his conquest..."
The aquatic neutral doctors rushed in. "Princess Peggy! You can't move yet! Please, you'll reopen your wounds!"
But her hands were already glowing faintly with light magic, lifting her to her feet.
"I don't care... if it kills me... I have to stop him. That Thunder General-she's loyal to him. He's going to weaponize her influence and her entire tribe. If I don't stop it now, who will?"
Her wings flickered-torn, barely functioning-but still they spread, trembling like candlelight in a storm.
"You're still too weak!" a healer pleaded. "There will be no healing left to do if you die again!"
"I won't die," she whispered, eyes burning with quiet resolve. "Even if I do... my will won't."
With one mighty heave, she launched herself into the air, blood trailing from reopened wounds, wings fluttering weakly. The neutrals cried out behind her-but Peggy was already gone, flying straight back toward the Island of Storms.
Meanwhile, deep within the forest palace...
Glacius lounged upon the electric-forged throne, legs crossed, eyes half-lidded. His frosty aura blended with the palace's lightning-charged air. Electrica rested against him, arms locked around his, beaming.
"Now," Glacius murmured, "this island... this throne... this power. A perfect staging ground."
"You really think I'm worthy, don't you?" Electrica asked, cheeks glowing red.
Glacius gently adjusted his hand around her waist. "You've proven loyalty. Strength. Intelligence. I'm not one to lie."
That was enough to make her swoon.
But then-buzzing static filled the air. One of the Electric guards knelt before them, panting.
"General Electrica! Urgent news from the inner surveillance ward!"
Electrica jolted up. "What is it?!"
The soldier gulped. "Our spy units... They haven't checked in for two days. Not a single one. Every one of them was stationed inside the island."
Electrica's eyes widened. "What?! That's impossible! I had eyes on every corner!"
"It gets worse..." the soldier added nervously. "Some of the internal security systems-the shock barriers and cloaking grids-were also destroyed. Precisely. Without alerting our external defense."
Glacius leaned forward slightly now, interest piqued. "Hmm... interesting indeed..."
Electrica clenched her fists. "Who could have pulled this off?! There were no intrusions recorded!"
The soldier hesitated, then answered, "Whoever did this... didn't come from outside. They're already on the island."
The electric mist hung low over the jungle trail, crackling softly with static. Peggy's wings fluttered weakly, their light dim but present as she darted through the trees, each heartbeat echoing like war drums in her chest.
Behind a cluster of bushes, she skidded to a halt.
Electric soldiers-dead.
Their armor was scorched and dented, their bodies neatly hidden behind thick foliage. Not by accident.
She spun, startled, when a voice whispered behind her. Several aquatic neutrals stepped out of a camouflage spell, wide-eyed and trembling.
"Princess Peggy! You're alive?"
Peggy nodded briefly. "Did you... do this?"
They all shook their heads.
"No. We've been hiding here," one of them said. "These soldiers were spies. They were eliminated by someone else. We... we saw it happen. A hooded figure-fast, precise. Killed them all without a sound, then dragged their bodies here."
Peggy's eyes narrowed. "A hooded figure?"
They nodded.
"We don't know who it was, but... he saved us. We're thankful."
Peggy looked at the bodies again. Something about the way they were placed-intentional, strategic. She couldn't tell if it was a friend or foe. But either way...
"...I don't have time to find out," she muttered. "Whoever that was... they helped."
She turned toward the distance. The faint lightning glow of the Electric Palace shimmered at the far end of the jungle, rising like a stormcloud. And within its core... she could feel him.
Glacius.
He was still here.
Peggy's grip on her light-forged blade tightened.
"I'm going to finish this," she whispered. "Even if it kills me... even if I'm alone."
One of the neutrals tried to stop her. "Princess-you've barely recovered! He's stronger than ever, and that Thunder General's with him! You don't stand a chance-!"
But she was already flying, wings stuttering but burning, tearing through the air toward the glowing palace.
She didn't respond.
She couldn't.
Because if she did... she might doubt herself.
And right now, resolve was the only thing keeping her alive.
Glacius would die for the balance.
Even if she had to die with him.